Tempo

What it means

Tempo designates the speed at which a piece proceeds — more precisely: how fast the beats follow one another. The word comes from Italian, where it first means “time”. Tempo is measured in beats per minute, referred to a particular note value.

It is indicated in two ways. Tempo words such as Adagio, Andante, or Allegro name a range and at the same time a character; they are older and less precise, but say something about attitude in return. Metronome markings name a number and are unambiguous, but mute regarding expression. Both often stand side by side.

Tempo is to be distinguished from metre and from rhythm. Metre orders the beats into bars, rhythm distributes the notes upon them; tempo alone determines how fast the whole proceeds. Small deviations from the basic tempo that serve shaping fall under the term agogics.

In the notation

The tempo marking stands above the first staff, before or above the time signature, and holds until a new marking. Tempo changes are notated at the relevant point, gradual ones through words such as accelerando and ritardando, immediate ones through più mosso, meno mosso, or a new tempo word. A tempo and tempo primo restore an earlier tempo.

Musical use

Tempo decides substantially about the character of a piece: the same notes seem slow and stately or fast and light. It is also connected with form — the movement sequence of a sonata or symphony has for centuries been laid out as a succession of different tempos: fast, slow, dance-like, fast. In older music without a tempo marking, the tempo is deduced from genre, time signature, and the note values used.

Performance practice

Determine the tempo at the densest passage and at the longest phrase at once, not at the beginning. With a metronome marking, check first the reference note value. Fix the tempo inwardly before you play the first note, and check occasionally whether you hold it through the whole movement — unnoticed speeding up at dense passages is the most common error.